The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx is a renowned philosopher, social scientist, historian and a revolutionist who influenced people and social thinkers in the 19th century. His social, economic and political ideas however gained acceptance after his death in 1883. And since then, almost a half of the world population claimed to be under Marxist regime until recently. As a member of the Karl Heinrich group, Karl Marx produced a radical critique to Christianity by implicating a liberal opposition to the Prussian autocracy. He consistently opposed the divisions amongst people and the exploitation of the poor by the rich. He advocated for equitable allocation of resources a system which he termed it as communism. Karl Marx jointly participated with Friedrich Engels in the people’s revolution movement, made the two close partners. The paper seeks to analyze the role played by Engels in the revolutionary struggle.

His challenging criticism led to his dismissal from the university by the Prussian government. He later migrated to France at the end of the 1843. While in Paris Marx contacted a group of German workers and started assisting them to air their view to the public in the series of his writings. Although this series of writings were never published until in 1930s he was able to influence and bring out the contrast between the alienated nature of labor under communist and capitalist regimes. It was during this time that Marx partnered with Friedrich Engels. The two revolutionists advocated for a communist regime since they argued that the capitalists continued to accumulate wealth at the expense of the poor (Marx & Engels Para 3).

Marx influenced people through his writings, and although his eminent influence caused him to be expelled from Paris in 1844, he never backed down. It is also believed that Engels was the major financier of Marx throughout his exile period. Having come from a poor background, Marx felt the need for enhancing and bridging the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

In the German ideology, Marx and Engels argued that human beings are generally productive and that their material and social needs triggers them into production. According to them, there was an eminent need to form a society and a state which enhances a collective human production. But as production progresses, people will start developing mode of production which will consequently lead to the formation of a communist regime. And once the plight of workers and their awareness starts motivating them, they establish a revolution. He once said that “Political Economy regards the proletarian ... like a horse, he must receive enough to enable him to work. It does not consider him, during the time when he is not working, as a human being. It leaves this to criminal law, doctors, religion, statistical tables, politics, and the beadle” (Marx & Engels Para 5).

Since Marx lived in a capitalist era, he argued that the continued hold on to power and accumulation of capital by the ruling class or the bourgeoisie will eventually lead to scarcity of need and as a result the mass will rebel to overturn this. He developed a strong dislike towards the bourgeois capitalist society since he always argued that they maximized their wealth at the expense of the poor. Instead he praised communism by saying, “Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.”

Marx observed that capitalism was unjust and that it aimed at exploiting the worker. He argued that capitalism used some dirty secrets that are not in the realm of mutual benefit to extract profit from others. And although he was never quoted concluding that capitalism was unjust, his arguments portrayed exactly that. He argued that the proletariat was being exploited by the wealthy class in their bid to accumulate more wealth. He was also noted to classify the capitalist as corrupt and unjust system which failed to effectively accommodate the needs of all people within the society. Some of the notable quotes which help us understand Marx feeling towards capitalism were; “capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks” (Marx & Engels Para 16). Although the later theorists did not justify the moral ground of capitalist as it’s argued by Marx, some supported his argument while others deferred with it. He therefore advocated for a revolution since according to him only the society had power to check the excess of capitalism. In his book he was noted saying, “Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society” (Marx & Engels Para 13).

Marx also classified people into different classes, depending with their capacity and influence in the society. He therefore argued that the society is divided into two major classes, the ruling also termed as the bourgeoisie and the working also known as the proletariat class. According to Engels, the bureaucrats manipulated the world in order to attain their goals, but they did so at the expense of their subjects. The bourgeoisie therefore triggered revolution as they seek to maximize wealth. However, he advocated that people should never allow this to happen since they should be guided by their conscious state of mind, social needs and satisfaction. To Marx, alienation happens whenever the human interaction is subordinated with other things such as money.

However, he noted that the reason why the mass continued to live under the oppressive regime of the rich is due to lack of unity. That is why he dedicated his entire life for the benefit of all. He said, “If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people”. But he still had some hope that one day, the mass will eventually unit against the rich and claims their position and stake in their land. Over the years, his prophesy have partly come true to the nations of the world. The French Revolution was a notable mass revolution triggered by the continued oppression of the mass by the rich few. Recently, the same was realized by the mass revolution in Egypt and Tunisia and also in many other Arab countries. We should therefore take note of Marxist argument seriously and let people have their stake in the country